A series of emails released by the Democratic group in the House of Representatives has brought back into the spotlight the links between United States President Donald Trump and convicted pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019.
According to the leaked documents, Epstein wrote that Trump had “spent hours at my house” in the presence of one of the girls who were later identified as victims of his abuse. The revelation was first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by CNN.
In some of the messages, Epstein implied that Trump had much deeper knowledge of his criminal activities than he had ever publicly admitted.
Trump has acknowledged being friends with Epstein in the past but insisted their relationship had long since ended, describing him as "a weird guy" and denying any involvement in his activities or those of his close associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
In one of the emails, Epstein wrote that “Trump knew about the girls and asked Ghislaine to stop.” Investigators later confirmed that many of the girls were minors. In another message, he added: “Spent hours at my house with her… and it was never mentioned.”
In December 2015, in correspondence with writer Michael Wolff, Epstein wondered how his relationship with Trump should be described at a time when the latter was gaining political clout. "If he were to say he's never been on your plane or in your house, that would give you a great card to play," Epstein wrote.
Another email, dated April 2, 2011 and verified by CNN, was addressed to Ghislaine Maxwell with the words: "I want you to understand that the dog that doesn't bark is Trump."
New questions in Congress
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have responded by saying the communications raise “serious questions” about the nature of the relationship between President Trump and Epstein. “What else is the White House hiding, and what was the true nature of the relationship between them?” said Robert Garcia, the committee’s top Democrat.
On the other hand, the White House has recalled that Trump had expelled Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club, considering him "a maniac." The president himself has said that Epstein had "recruited young women who worked at the resort's spa," which according to him led to the end of their relationship.
The release of these materials has sparked a new debate in the Capitol over the Trump administration's handling of the so-called "Epstein Files." Democratic critics accuse the White House of reneging on a campaign promise to release all documents related to the financier's network of abuse.
The published emails date back to the agreement that Epstein reached in 2008 with Florida justice, under which he admitted charges of favoring underage prostitution and was sentenced to 18 months in prison in a minimum security institution, of which he served only 13.
Maxwell seeks sentence reduction from Trump
At the same time, according to documents obtained by Judiciary Committee Democrats and reported by Politico, Ghislaine Maxwell is preparing a formal request for "commencement of sentence" from President Trump.
In a short email, allegedly sent to her attorney Leah Saffian, Maxwell wrote: “I am having a hard time keeping all of this together because the file is voluminous and there are many attachments.” The message had the subject line “Request for Commuting.”
After the Supreme Court rejected her appeal against the conviction, a pardon or commutation of the sentence by the president is seen as her only remaining option. Trump, for his part, has not ruled out the possibility of such a decision.